Students as Creators: Exploring Copyright

Student Interactives

Printouts

Websites

Preparation

 

STUDENT INTERACTIVES

Grades   K – 12  |  Student Interactive  |  Writing & Publishing Prose

Letter Generator

The Letter Generator is a useful tool for students to learn the parts of a business or friendly letter and then compose and print letters for both styles of correspondence.

 

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PRINTOUTS

• "Can I Use It?" Checklist for Copyright Clearance
  
  
• Copyright Organizer
  
  
• Online Sources for Finding Works in the Public Domain

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WEBSITES

• Copyright Kids! Copyright Basics
• The Copyright Site
• Myths about Copyright
• Public Domain
• Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States
• Getting Permission
• How to Locate Copyright Holders
• Sample Permission Letter
• Fair Use Guidelines
• Research and Documentation Online
• How to Cite Film, Video, and Online Media
• Register Your Own Works

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PREPARATION

• This lesson is designed to be co-planned and co-taught by the classroom teacher and the school library media specialist. Meet to decide responsibilities for teaching the lessons and assessing student work, as well as to arrange logistics for using the library media center.
  
  
• This lesson works best when it accompanies an authentic student project for which copyright should be considered (such as conducting research, creating wikis, or producing video). Prior to beginning this lesson, give students the guidelines for the project (including information about the ethical use of borrowed material) and have them begin the planning stages.
  
  
• Prepare one copy of the "Can I Use It?" Checklist for Copyright Clearance, Online Sources for Finding Works in the Public Domain, and Copyright Organizer handouts for each student or group, depending on the nature of the project students will use the copyrighted information in.
  
  
• The classroom teacher and library media specialist should test the Letter Generator on student computers to familiarize themselves with the tool and ensure that the Flash plug-in is installed. Schools can download the plug-in from the technical support page.

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